Anamnesis
by Rodney Peterson
Summary: A new Arbiter has been created, and he is fully introduced to the rest of the world in which he is brought into. Unem - a shy, introverted but friendly, intelligent and hard working being - is chosen to be assigned to work and perform judgements on the very first floor's bar. The bar itself had been left to rot for a long time; however, a covert plan has just enter its first phase.


Prologue

She didn't exactly find this game of their's to be all too pleasing at a time like this; however, turning down the request would've been a foolish move on her part, especially in a case involving her superior. She stood on one side of the table filing down the end of her brilliantly lit cue while patiently awaiting the small scale planets to be stacked and placed down opposite from her, onto a table representing the solar system, all of which complemented the overall theme of the dimly lit room. The game being set up was the same one that the both of them have played over and over again, far too many times, and victory was well within her security most of the time. The last score recorded was 6146 to 623. Normally the old man would still be puzzled by the sheer amount of losses, considering his self-proclaimed status as "the closest to being God;" unfortunately, that wasn't his focus at the moment. He had a more pressing matter on mind to discuss with his subordinate.

"Nona," the old man proceeded, "I think you already have a good idea as to why I called upon you in the first place."

"I believe so, Oculus." She responded. "Though just to be sure we're on the same page here, why don't you go ahead and readily explain it."

"I personally think it would be great to hear what you think first." He leaned forward to grab onto the table with one hand, and a single wave with the other. "I'm always willing to hear preconceived thoughts before starting, just to kick things up a notch."

"What I think is that we should get this game started, along with this little discussion as well. You've always known I'm busy with running things around here. I don't want to unnecessarily waste time."

Oculus sighed, and smirked a little. "Alright then. Ladies first?" He took a few steps to the side to allow Nona to position herself for the first strike. As she bent over and pointed her cue, she turned her eyes to look directly at him.

"I do hope you're not going to try and force that shriveled-up flower over my head while my back's turned, are you?"

He let out a gentle, quick laugh, and tilted his head a little with an eyebrow raised. "If that was my intention from the beginning, then I would've done it far sooner than go through all this trouble." He had a point. Nona knew that he can be direct when he wants to. She remembered a few of the times when he would sneak up on her unexpectedly, and that he could've done more than just that but refrained from doing so. Despite that, though, it did create a feeling of discomfort knowing that he could've done something at those said times.

"I suppose you're right." She says as she turns her focus back to the planets, and strikes them all at once, strategically causing them to roll exceptionally near their designated slots. "Even the likes of someone like you possesses more finesse than that."

"Well, I'm not sure if 'finesse' is the correct term, but I suppose it works." Oculus then took his turn to strike next, positioning himself next to one of the planets closest to a slot. "I swear, even your opening shots never cease to amaze."

Nona began to slowly tap her foot in impatience with her arms folded, and gradually tightening her grip on her cue. She never really found his secondary conversations to be anything significant when an important topic had already been commenced. She just wanted to get straight to the point. No more putting it off. Oculus makes his strike, and a planet goes into its slot and is added to its orbit.

"I know about your concern," she states, "or rather, your interest in all that has transpired. So I'm rather curious as to what you're planning to do with this newfound information."

Oculus held his cue together in his hands pointing straight up, and was then staring upward, deep in thought. "Yes… Putting it simply: I'd like to conduct a little experiment." He then focused his attention on Nona, gently stroking the flower on his chin. "I was hoping you could provide me with your assistance. I won't force you otherwise. The choice is completely yours, though I'd be very delighted if you took this opportunity."

"That all depends on how you carry this out." She then points her cue at Oculus, keeping her signature poker face in tact. "If I am to agree to this experiment of yours, then I expect to have every little piece of detail disclosed. Nothing left out. And no lies."

"That's just like you." He remarks. He then signals to the table. "Shall we continue? We'll openly discuss this as we go along." Nona let out a brief sigh, but complied nonetheless. This was, after all, how most of their social interactions took place.

He slowly opened his eyes, and had found himself in a room completely surrounded by darkness. He looked in all directions in an attempt to make out his location. But there was nothing, no one, just a vast, empty black void lacking any kind of lively presence. Confusion and bewilderment - these were the only two things he could feel right now and ponder about. He had no recollection of where he initially came from, nor did he have the knowledge of how he came to a place, how he was struck by a predicament, such as this. He put his hands up to his mouth to channel his volume.

"Hello?" He called out. "Is anybody out there?" No answer. Not even the slightest hint of sound could be heard. "Can anyone hear me? I think I'm lost." There was still nothing. "Please, I need help!" Nothing. He desperately gave a few more attempts, but soon came to the realization that there was no one there but him.

He couldn't help but feel lonely, scared and apprehensive as he stood in place, folding his arms and ducking his head in a defensive stance. He didn't know how to comprehend and understand what was going on. It was all new, completely foreign unto him. _Calm yourself. Now's not the time to panic._ He took a couple of deep breaths, proceeded to sit on the ground cross-legged, and stared at the nothingness before him intently. There had to be a way out, and he knew for a fact that nothing happens without a cause, because that would be irrational. Digging into the deepest depths of his mind, he began to formulate various theories and possibilities. One of them being that he somehow found himself in a comatose state caused by either an accident or the bad intentions of another person, and another that he has fallen under the effects of some kind of supernatural power cast by an unknown spiritual entity; he could've easily thrown out that convoluted idea, yet, for some odd reason, he clung onto it as if there was a kind of otherwordly validity that lingered from it. He put out his hand and gazed upon it for a moment. _Now that I think about it, what's my name? Who am I?_ Several more questions began to rise within him, but he took each one slowly as to avoid any kind of mental flooding.

Then, from above, a single drop of liquid came splashing down onto the floor in front of him. Noticing it, he got onto his knees to inspect it more closely. The small spatter had a deep-red hue to it, and was darker the more closer it was to the center.

"Is… it blood?" He whispered to himself. He looked up to find the source, but of course nothing was there. "Maybe I'm just hallucinating."

Then there was another drop. And then another. And then another. To his surprise they were all of differing colors. There was yellow, blue, green, orange, pink, violet, and many other colors around him. It appeared that every second that had past, the more frequent the drops would become.

"What the hell is going on?"

Looking up once more, he was overwhelmed by the site of a plentiful, colorful shower coming down unto him. He began to shield himself as he was repeatedly pelted. His head, face, shoulders and arms were gradually becoming more and more covered. Suddenly, he felt a pinch on his left foot which caused him to jump a little and shake his foot in response. Upon looking, he quickly noticed that the puddles of color were crawling up along his legs, enveloping and planting themselves into his body at an increasingly faster rate. More feelings of being pinched followed, which soon turned into a feeling of being cut into, and then into a feeling of being engulfed in flames.

Throughout this he had been desperately swiping at and flailing away from the lively liquid, letting out frequent grunts and crys of pain as he began to claw at it to no avail. He could sense himself fading in and out of consciousness and had difficulties maintaining his overall stance. The liquid made its way up to the top half of his torso, and went forth to consume his face. It showed no mercy as it began to violently enter his mouth, nostrils, and even his eye sockets. His screams of sheer agony were muffled and he could no longer take in oxygen. The pain had become unbearably powerful that his resistance could no longer combat against the plague. With all of his strength gone, he finally collapsed onto the floor. He could only twitch and gasp for air as he laid there until, with his last breath, he had fell into what he thought was his final sleep.


End file.
